PENNSYLVANIA, (WHTM) – PennDOT is making an adjustment to the minimum waiver expenditure for emission inspections.

If you fail your initial emission inspection, you can try to get a waiver.

Right now, that means spending at least $150 towards the repair and even if your car fails again, you can get an emission sticker, which allows you to drive your car legally.

“The PennDOT waiver process is something that is very important, especially for the older vehicles, the purpose of it is so that people don’t have to spend thousands of dollars chasing small problems,” said Good Karma Garage president Jeff Case.  

But, as of September 1^st, that’s going to change.

According to a release from PennDOT, the price you must spend towards your repairs will be $450. That’s a $300 increase.

“One thing I really want to make clear to them is that the increase makes sense for the program. But the other part of it is, it has to be good for the people that it’s serving. And in my opinion, this is not good for the people it’s serving,” said Case.

Good Karma Garage is a non-profit in Harrisburg that provides repairs and inspections free of additional charges to low-income households.

“Unfortunately, that’s just out of reach for a lot of the customers that come to this garage, a lot of people that live in Harrisburg, for somebody that’s at the poverty line, that’s two weeks of take-home pay,” said Case.  

According to the United States Census Bureau, 12.1% of Pennsylvanians are in poverty.

“I do understand why PennDOT is doing it…. but to do that right now, to triple the price, right now after COVID, when auto parts are at an all-time high, service, the cost of service is at an all-time high, the cost of new cars, even used cars is at an all-time high. It’s just kinda piling on to do it now,” said Case.

We’ve reached out to PennDOT for more on this and will report back on it when we hear a response.